JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter has been called on to establish a public inquiry into the Dalkey 'house of horrors' case in which baby Noleen Murphy was stabbed to death.

The child's mother, Cynthia Owen, gave birth to the baby girl at the age of 11 after years of abuse at the hands of her father Peter Murphy and a paedophile ring in south Dublin.

On the 41st anniversary of the birth and murder of her daughter, Ms Owen handed a petition with more than 10,224 new signatures into the Department of Justice.

It brought to almost 12,500 the number of people who have supported her call for a fresh probe.

Ms Owen was critical of Mr Shatter, who as an opposition TD asked for a sworn investigation into the matter but, she said, now refused to help her "in any way".

However, a Department of Justice spokesman said last night that Mr Shatter had asked the garda authorities to provide him with an update on the issues raised by Ms Owen yesterday.

Her daughter Noleen's body was found wrapped in newspaper in a green plastic bag at Lee's Lane in Dun Laoghaire, south Dublin, on April 4, 1973.

The newborn had been stabbed almost 40 times.

An inquest in 2007 identified the child as that of Ms Owen – formerly Sindy Murphy – of White's Villas in Dalkey.

It heard that Ms Owen's mother, Josie Murphy, stabbed the baby with knitting needles after she was born alive in an upstairs bedroom.

Ms Owen was repeatedly raped by her father and, she alleges, sold for sex to men, including three gardai.

Both her parents are now deceased.

At a press conference yesterday, the 52-year-old said she had been in "personal correspondence" with Enda Kenny before he became Taoiseach in 2011, while Mr Shatter had been her lawyer for four years on this case.

She added: "The Taoiseach and Minister Shatter both know I was sexually abused by family members and a local paedophile ring in Dalkey that consisted of three members of the Garda.

"They both know I was made pregnant from that abuse at the ages of 10 and 13 and that my daughter Noleen was murdered to cover up that abuse."

Her solicitor Gerry Dunne said the three gardai in question were still alive.